Modern Vespa

Right, Wimpy, right.

Honda CB250 Nighthawk $3699

Vespa GTS250 $5995

Many millions of miles have been traveled with motorcycles that have drum brakes. When I started riding there were no discs and those bikes stopped just fine, as does the CB250.

That's great but it is 2008 and I really don't think it too much to expect disc brakes on any vehicle produced today whether it is scooter, MC, or car. There are no advantages to the drum mechanism other than cost and many to disc systems.

250-400cc FI, 4v, 4 stroke, discs at both ends in a classic cafe-ish styled small MC that's my ideal ride.

I like discs, too, have had them on dozens of motorcycles, and they are superb on the GT200. Still, for the weight and performance of the 250 Nighthawk, its drums easily do the job.

It's a trifle, but there is one advantage to drums. They do not have the momentary fade problem when applied in heavy rain. A wet disc is ineffective for a few revolutions until water is squeezed off by the puck. Most discs now have perforations or grooves on the disc surface to hasten drying.

Honda manufactured the CB250 with a disc, but American Honda [in almost 20 years of CB250 production!] would not order it for the U.S. market.

Dont get me wrong....
I know where the scheme comes from...But some people wont look past a color to see how brilliant that bike is.


I like the colors actually & loved the old interceptors.....would love to have a NS400 or even a Yamaha FZR400.
I especially enjoyed watching Freddy Spencers habit of sliding both tires around corners.....fucking nuts.







They need more bikes like the Honda..... Ummm...yeah...have fun with your drums..........having had so many of both I will say....
Those revolutions are negligible...

They can be made to work well enough but will never compare to a well set up disc.

I will concede that some of the older discs were as shitty as drums (Yamahas early discs come to mind...on XS's & RD's....And I almost think it was the M/C & Caliper piston size that caused that spongy feel in those.)

But there is no comparison these days....as the calipers & MC's of even lower quality (Tokico comes to mind) are excellent working units.






Here is another funny bike for those into the early RD's (I hated them & was a 1976 thru 1978 fan)

The Rajdoot 350....basically an early 70 Yamaha RD350.

I used to buy parts from these to fit on my Yamahas....
Neat bike.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajdoot_350


Here is a terrible pic of one...But I remember seeing some excellent examples on Aleks RD page years ago.

This is what I'm riding right now. A 1974 Honda CL360. I'd love it if it had fuel injection, modern brakes, etc... But I still love it anyway! Its got more than enough power for me and the Mac megaphone exhaust sounds like sheets of bubble wrap going through a wood chipper. Sort of like a million chipmunks simultaneously giving you the raspberry!

jyd

Unless you're desperate for an automatic, I don't see why one would bother. There are plenty of small displacement singles out there from dirt bikes and other motorcycles. Most of which make more power for the displacement than scooter engines. Also, most are significantly easier and cheaper to find spare parts for.

Not trying to be inflammatory, just realistic.

So... awesome! Check my new tagline!!!

nice retro bike but they should dump the spoked wheels so the can go with tubeless tires.

the Qlink thing is a scooter for people that have such little self confidence they must buy a scooter styled like a mc because they couldn't be caught dead riding a scooter

If you want a mc but a mc,
if you want a scooter buy a scooter,
if you want to be different get an Aprilia Mana

I understand the advantage of tubless, but I can't stand the typically ugly mags that they put on bikes like this.

Spoke wheels are a pain in the ass...my tubes are a pain in the ass....the limited tire size available is a pain in the ass...blah,blah,blah.........

but I am with you & wouldn't trade them off my Thruxton for the mag option available as it would ruin the whole retro theme of the bike.
And Carrozzeria wheels are way better looking than OEM mags they toss on Hondas,Suzukis,etc....

For the cost I would just get a different bike as that is a lot of money to be stuffing into a pretty average chassis's



They are excellent wheels though.

Wow!!!

This honda CB400 is beaultiful!!!
They should bring it to the U.S. The suzuki looks nice, but the hondas were classics. My Dad has in CB 350, 1971....

The little suzuki takes the cafe treatment well IMHO

Dude. As far as I'm concerned, that's close enough to perfect that we can just call it game over and turn off the Internet. How do I get my hands on one of those???

[quote="jrsjr"] Don't turn off the Internet. I make my living designing Web sites.

A little bit of a puff piece, but thought some of you might be interested in this...
http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/suzuki/2009-suzuki-tu250-ar66115.html

I suppose there will always be a market for the sub-500cc UJM's...The Suzuki you're referring to (in a couple dozen varieties) has been made for the Asian markets since the freekin 60's...Suzuki just pulled the drivetrain off the shelves and added a "whoopee doo" paint job.
Personally, they fall far short in performance and function when compared to the GTS...just basic transportation...albeit much SLOWER. The engines work well for extended severe-duty applications but they BUZZZZZZ running like a Cub Cadet with a BS engine.

No Thanks...But Have Fun!

Sweet Jesus... I'd buy that - twice.

Who else besides QLink discussed in this thread makes a small (~ 250CC) MC with auto/CVT transmission?

I would agrue that the "big wheel" scooters from Piaggio and Kymco are as much "MCs with auto/CVT" as the QLink and they are of *much* higher quality. The Kymcos aren't that much more expensive than the QLink, either. I'm thinking of the Beverly and People from Piaggio and Kymco respectively.

Last I checked, the BV250 is about $1K higher than the QLink as listed here. No Kymco dealers locally and, hence, no service either.

Scarabeo is another option that IS priced like the QLink (and available from a local dealer), but one report here suggests questionable performance.

I know it's not a 250cc, but this was in MCN a couple of weeks ago. Scheduled for a 2009 launch. I'd have one!

That's achingly hot for a budget bike. Unfortunately, I hear these Suzuki's won't be available in California (CAFE).

If that's an off-the-showroom-floor, Suzuki has just made up for the Gladius. Yeah, pretty much the opposite of the spectrum at 1100 cc's. I'd prefer a smaller block, if just to keep the poundage down. Still, a sexy thang, for sure.

Man, i love the look of that bike. Reminds me of the Ducati sport classic 1000

I rode one of those at the Sturgis rally last August. I was pretty excited about it.....until I rode the thing. Underpowered even for a 250 IMO, and rather crude in both construction and engine/drive train operation.


They even brought a police version of it, though I still don't know if it was a serious effort or meant to be a cute novelty...


I see they're badged as 'CF Moto' here rather than 'Q-Link' as pictured above.

They also came in several different body configurations though it was the same bike under all the plastic junk....(I don't know who these people are, other than the woman on the bike was a factory escort rider...either that or possibly 'Brunnhilde' the Valkyrie from a Wagner opera)..


This is the fugly one I rode....the 'Cruiser' of the bunch.....

This machine is incredibly similar in overall appearance to the mid-1970's Yamaha TX/XS 650 'standard' that it cannot be simply coincidence...(and I mean that in a good way)

Thanks for all the pics and the info.

You becha!

Here's another interesting view of the bike I took during the 'test ride'..


This photo was taken on the way 'out' on the two-lane county road that went west out of Sturgis, to the right you can see I-90, which was the interstate the group returned to town on.

As you can see, we're moving at about 45 mph at this point, not too bad for a relatively lazy rural road, but incredibly, they didn't let us open the bikes up for the interstate portion of the ride, holding the group to 45-50 mph on a 75 mph interstate where most are traveling 80 so we had the general traffic closing speeds from behind coming at us at 35-40 mph faster than we were allowed to go. To be blunt, I was scared shitless on the interstate riding this slug and was getting angry enough at the 'factory riders' escorting us that I was ready to commit the cardinal sin of test rides and pass the factory dumbass riders and open this bike up to at least 65-70 if it'd do it (some doubt there too) and get the hell off the interstate before I became grill decoration on a freightliner.

This bike has NO business being on a 75 mph interstate, especially with the added traffic of the Sturgis rally.

Rant over.

This is absolute eye candy.

Thanks again Scooterdoodler. My interest in the QLink was that I just can't find it in me to justify spending the kind of money that a GTS250 costs & I would like a PTW that can reach 70 MPH. My google search turns up that Aprilia makes (made?) an 800CC auto trans MC, but beyond that there are only the Honda DN-01 and the Ridley models which are way out of the price range I had in mind. The Fly 150 has spoiled me so I don't think I'll ever want a standard shift again.

I don't ever expect to ride on an interstate hwy so the Qlink Legend still has its appeal... and there is a local dealer to keep it serviced.

That's a huge plus, it may be perfect for your purposes and is probably just fine as a 'town bike', short commuter and errand runner.

Shite!
Honda to me was the absolute best MC company for many years, but in the last decade or so I believe they've completely lost touch with much of the American market!
What's important to me about this version of the 250 Nighthawk are the improved cast wheels and tubeless tires, along with the disk brake! If Honda would come to their senses and equip USA models with these advances, I'd buy that 250 Nighthawk in a flippin' minnit! It's got a great 250cc twin engine, long established, and well proven to be bullet proof! 8)

-I luv small bikes, but not unsafe POS's like (IMO) the current 250 Nighthawk in it's present greatly obselete configuration!
(And if they ever get into improving this 250 for the USA version, they might well think about beefing up those skinny fork tubes too!)

Why not look at pre-owned Suzuki Burgmans?

My Honda CB360 still runs and looks brand new...but I'm diggin' this little 250. Maybe for the wife.

I wonder what it costs to import (they are a half a million yen ~ like $5500)...If they balk on emissions (I doubt it) I can say I'd like to keep one in my living room. Right behind the couch would look nice.


Although, they don't sell the sub 500cc models stateside (I really like the 350's) , these should be competitive in the same market (I think they're like $5k):

Royal Enfield Bullet 500 military:

350:


Bullet electra:

That last one I like.

Seth

Sign the petition then:
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/USCB400SS

Seth

Anyone remember this?
http://www.bobwrightmotorcycles.co.uk/saturno.htm

Done.

It's interesting where the money is.
There are less than 100 names on that petition for an inexpensive commuter that gets great mileage, but Honda feels financially justified in releasing a $10k+ chopper and naked liter bike.

Seth

Except the Suzuki is cleaner, simpler, and better looking for it.